Editorials

What If... Iowa Were A Storage Unit

October 18, 2016

How cool is this thought! If Iowa were a storage unit, what countries would fit inside?

This hypothetical scenario comes from SelfStorage.com: If Iowa were a storage unit, what countries could you store inside it? They tell us that Iowa is the 26th largest US?state by area with 56,272 square miles. Iowa's rank among countries (if Iowa was an independent country) would be 94th largest among the 200-odd nations in existence. According to this scenario, that means that there are roughly 107 countries smaller than Iowa.

So -- if Iowa were a storage unit, how would other countries fit inside? You can go to their website to see the maps, but here are some of their calculations:

Tajikistan

Encompassing 55,300 square miles, Tajikistan currently holds the title of 94th-largest country, but if Iowa were a country its 56,272 square miles would take that title.

Greece

Greece, the 95th largest country, would fit inside your Iowa-sized storage unit with 5,312 square miles to spare.

With enough jimmying around you could fit all four of these European nations inside Iowa at the same time.

Guatemala

Guatemala would fit inside Iowa with 14,230 square miles to spare.

Iceland

Because Mercator Projection distortions enlarge landmasses further away from the equator, Iceland looks much larger than it is. In reality it would fit inside Iowa 1.4 times.

South Korea

South Korea would fit inside Iowa 1.4 times.

Hungary

Hungary would fit inside Iowa 1.5 times.

Portugal

Portugal would fit inside Iowa 1.5 times.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic would fit inside Iowa 1.8 times.

Ireland

Ireland would fit inside Iowa twice.

Taiwan

You could fit four Taiwans inside Iowa.

On my computer at home is a game called Physics Truck. The object of the game is to pack the truck with various sized objects and not have anything peeking over the top. For example, a load of lumber in various sizes all must fit in the truck. Strategically placing the pieces at different angles, all will fit inside the truck. That doesn't sound all that tough, but -- the pieces tend to "float" as you move them around inside the truck bed.

Physics Truck is what I thought of when I saw the article on what countries would fit inside Iowa's borders. You have to admit, it's a pretty interesting concept.